The Placebo Presidency

Edition #62 — October 28, 2004

A placebo (pron. "pluh-see-bow") is a substitute for the real thing. Typically a placebo is a sugar pill used in medical studies given to a "control group" while the other group gets the real medication. Neither is told which one they're getting.

Astoundingly, many people respond to the placebo treatment as though they were taking the real medication. This is known as the famous "placebo affect". Mind over matter is at the heart of this phenomenon: we have a certain expectation for the outcome and our body adjusts to fulfill it. After all, there is no healer like our own mind and body.

In the political context, promises made by presidential candidates while on the campaign trail are also like a placebo. And, once elected, any improvements the country experiences will then be attributed to that politician and used as a placebo for his re-election. For instance, the Bush administration recently claimed to have created 1,300,000 new jobs. They didn't specify if they were jobs cleaning up the mess they'd made in Iraq, or whether these were part time jobs created to replace the full time jobs eliminated to save on medical plans and other employee benefits. Sugary claims indeed, but underneath they're fake.

Yet despite stirring up our expectations with their placebo promises, our leaders are largely ineffective in healing whatever historical, chronic ills may still plague the country and its people. Mostly, they are just facilitators of industrial exploitation.

Presidents don't end racism. Presidents don't build bridges across that abyss of vanity between the rich and the exploited poor. Presidents don't end drug abuse or alcoholism, incest or spousal abuse and misogyny. Presidents are often merely poster children dispensing inane platitudes and conveying the ideals of morality and ethics that are necessary to maintain business as usual. A president is a hired cheerleader and a doorman for corporate interests; the Ronald McDonald of the McUSA franchise.

It is the opinion of many that George Bush is a hand puppet; a simple-minded, generic facade for high rollers, schemers and scammers with their own subversive, hidden agendas. We now know that the Iraq invasion was being strategized in 1996 by Wolfowitz, Cheney and others. How coincidental was it then that Haliburton, a company that Dick Cheney led before taking the vice president's chair, was also in Iraq from the start, set up with cushy military contracts? Is it a coincidence that they also overcharged, in just one instance, for $75 million? Is it a coincidence that their moral and ethical trespasses against the American taxpayer were instantly forgiven without a Clintonesque witch hunt by Ken Starr? And who pays the price? The voter.

The American Dream, outlaw style.

On November 2, 2004, the people of the United States of America will once again elect one of two largely insignificant men to lead them. Insignificant from a healing perspective at least.

One of them is already well know for his aims and dishonorable conduct. George Bush Jr. will end his first term (and hopefully his last) having added more debt to the US deficit than all the presidents from George Washington to Ronald Reagan. He will be remembered for sending the message that fences and bombs make good neighbours and that taking care of the bottom line — health care and improving the standard and quality of life for those who elected him, are not his problem while he's busy fighting evil in the world. But is he fighting evil, or just adding to it? You'll decide on November 2.

He will also be remembered as sending young kids to their death in an effort to fight a war for reasons which he no longer stands behind.

John Kerry? I don't know him, but if I were an American I'd vote for him just because he's not George Bush Jr.

Although his purpose of offering a third option in a two party system is admirable, Ralph Nader would be better suited to working as a consumer advocate within the Kerry administration, thereby "greening" the Democrats from the inside out. As a candidate, he's only sqandering votes. He and others like Wesley Clark should work together under Kerry to begin the much needed process of healing the open wounds that another four years of George Bush could turn gangrenous.

Comparing apples with apples, John Kerry fought in the Vietnam war while George Bush was officially "somewhere" during that same time. Kerry went on to march against the political killing in Vietnam while Bush went on to become the most kill-happy death sentence Governor in the USA. I guess it's easier to kill people if you don't have to do it yourself.

Kerry has no previous record of damaging the credibility of his country in the eyes of the world community. Sure, he may have "flip flopped" about his position on Iraq, but hasn't George Bush flip flopped continuously about Weapons Of Mass Destruction and Saddam Hussein's links to terrorism? For the Bush administration to cast a single stone at Kerry is the height of desperation and denial. Besides, flip flopping is a sign that at least Kerry is thinking about what he's doing. Both men are obviously in this contest to wield the gold standard of social domination, the presidency. Let us not forget that this is mostly about THEM, not us.

Time To Change The Menu

Speaking as a Canadian, I believe the only way the current rift between the USA and far too many alienated countries around the world can be healed is if George Bush Jr. is handed his walking papers.

It may just be a "placebo affect" to have a new face on the US leadership package, but it will go a long way toward scrubbing the blood stains from the hands of Team America, World Police. Let's face it, George Bush is not interested in getting the Taliban to take the blankets off women's heads any more than his Christian dogma will allow him to give American women the right to abortions and equal social status with men.

Right now the US public image is one of smugness, arrogance, and conceit, fronted by a man perceived as extremely low in intelligence and guided by religious dogma. He is also seen as a man who works solely in the corporate interest, and has no respect or use for a healthy environment. That means he has no concern about the health of US citizens since our health depends upon the environment.

George Bush proved that in the USA, the votes and opinions of the people don't count for much when your daddy is an ex-president and former head of the CIA, and your brother rules Florida, the state that decides presidential elections. How's that for a setup? If this was your neighbour pulling such a blatant scam — you'd call the police! On November 2, your only recourse is to vote. Criminal charges may be filed later.

Those Lovable Americans!

I spent a full year and a half travelling throughout the USA from Florida to Alaska, Wyoming to Arkansas, Texas to Minnesota, and I can say that nowhere have I met more likeable, loveable people than Americans. I felt an incredible kinship with many and I found that there was essentially no difference between the people of Canada and those of the US in that we all wanted the same things in life — to feel love, to have a good healthy life, to not to be unfairly treated, and to not be taken advantage of by others. The good people of the USA are being given a bad rap by their associations with big, corrupt business and a smug, undemocratic president who cannot speak very well on his own behalf.

Looking back upon the last four years of the Bush administration, is this not how we were told the Communists, Saddam Hussein, and the Taliban act? Did you gain more rights or lose them under the Bush administration? In a democracy, there should be a significant difference in leadership style from that of tyrannies, dictatorships and nationalistic cults. But there isn't.

What is the future of the US constitution? What does "patriotism" mean these days to an American? The truth is that riot police batons and rubber bullets feel the same to an American protestor as they do to his dissident Communist Chinese counterpart. Same oppression, different language.

If Kerry is voted in, perhaps there can finally be an admission of mistakes having been made in the heat of passion along with the subsequent healing that is all too necessary. But if George Bush Jr. stays in power, his pride and sense of entitlement won't allow him to admit that he's messed things up for the next three generations.

"Dubbya" will continue acting the way that any overly proud human being would when cornered, he'll just keep changing the story each time the last one doesn't stand up to public scrutiny. Bush is dumb enough to believe that we're dumb enough to believe him, and we're dumbing ourselves down just to make him believable — now that's just plain unbelievable!

If Bush loses, he should make a public apology. If he wins, he should make a public apology.

Flexing Your Muscle:

If you are one of my American friends reading this, ask yourselves whether you want to stay in the same cloud of fear, paranoia and outright lies as have marked the last 4 years. This was a reign of plunder that began with your current leader winning his presidency in a State run by his brother. To me, this is true organized crime at its best.

And speaking of fear, why is Dick Cheney telling American voters to expect nuclear attacks in major US cities if they vote for Kerry? That's called psycho-terrorism; divide and conquer. Have you had enough of fear? Then it's time to take out the trash!

Think of the good old days when all the Republican guard had on Bill Clinton was a stain on some ambitious secretary's dress. Remember all the self-righteous moralistic whining? Why the hell is Ken Starr so silent these days? Is THIS not a morale outrage???

And what if, in fact, their God IS watching?

It's time to push back against the Bush Bullies, the tyrants who have taken control of the USA and had such a disruptive affect around the world. But you must ultimately decide whether you want to live in the real world, or a political placebo world of unfulfilled expectations.

But ask yourselves this:

  • Does a president whose speeches are typically marred by unthinkable mutations of the English language care very much about education, or the level of intelligence in American children? — Get Real!
  • Does a president who has already declared "mission accomplished" actually know what the mission is, or how to accomplish it? — Get Real!
  • Does a president who lies his way to war intend to tell the truth about his motives, or future plans? — Get Real!
  • Does a president who surrounds himself with opportunists like Dick Cheney intend to distribute the wealth among those who need it most? — Get Real!
  • Does a president who is known for his record of executing criminals expect political prisoners, or detainees to be treated with dignity and compassion? Or that drug addicts and alcoholics be offered more than Christianity as a means to recovery? — Get Real!
  • Does a president who owes his allegiance to Saudi Arabia for their investments in his family's businesses intend to get tough on extremists in the country where the 9/11 terrorists held their citizenship? — Get Real!
  • Does a president who doesn't exercise the protocols of democracy have it in his heart to heed the voice of the majority? — Get Real!

The Fishbowl

How I wish this were only a bad movie. But this is how we've warped reality in the last four years. The worst part about being immersed in insanity is that at a certain point it will start to seem normal. Only when we leave do we realize how dysfunctional our existence has been. While in the states, I found the media very insular and one-sided about what happens outside its borders. Back in Canada, I find it almost the same, except now I'm experiencing the Canadian version of the fishbowl syndrome.

We have to break out of these limiting realities. I'm sure every nation around the world suffers from this form of brainwashing. But deep down inside, we are all connected — we are one. Surely we must still know right from wrong. We cannot rule the world with a fist. Unclench that hand.

For those who will vote to keep this dark cloud over the United States Of America for yet another four years, may God have mercy...because it's not going to get better with this self-serving pirate steering the ship toward continued plunder.

Now go on and take the real medicine. And since you can't vote for me just yet, vote Kerry!

Roland Kriewaldt


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